Viktor watched with interest. 'Beast-kin senses. Useful.'
"There's... something else," Bella said, her voice uncertain. She moved to another patch of ground, sniffing again. "The smell. It's not just human. There's... decay. Rot. Like something died nearby but not completely."
She crawled forward a bit, her hands pressing into the dirt as she followed the scent trail. "And this..." She gestured to a patch of crushed vegetation. "These plants. They're dying. Withering. Like back in the village."
Viktor's eyes narrowed. 'The plague. It's spreading.'
Bella continued, her voice gaining more confidence as her observations piled up. "The leaves here—see how they're curled? That happens when there's poison in the soil. And these dried branches..." She picked one up, examining it. "They broke recently. Something big passed through here."
She moved to another spot, crouching again. Her fingers traced a different kind of marking in the dirt. "And this... this isn't from boots."
